1. Field of the Present Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to articulating beds and more particularly to an articulating hospital or convalescent bed that enables the turning of a patient in a superior manner.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Dawakami et al, US 2005/0166323 and Taguchi et al., US 2005/0160530 each discloses a movable bed; Wei, US 2003/0121098 discloses a turning mechanism for a patient confined to a bed; Tekulve, U.S. Pat. No. 6,826,793 discloses an articulating bed frame; Paul, U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,280 discloses an articulated medical bed; Hensley, U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,641 discloses an articulated bed frame; Hayes et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,004 discloses a vertically adjustable and tiltable bed frame; Suggitt et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,561 discloses an articulating bed; Elliott, U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,701 discloses an adjustable articulated bed; Bathrick et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,661 discloses an articulated bed with frame mounted power module; EP 0581474 discloses bed configurations; GB 2269916 discloses a hospital bed; and WO 200/018901 discloses a linear actuator.
The related art described above discloses several bed frames that have partial or full movement and tilt. However, the prior art fails to disclose an articulated frame such as described herein and especially fails to describe how an articulated bed may have interleaved sections. The present disclosure distinguishes over the prior art providing heretofore unknown advantages as described in the following summary.